Another engaging and well done mystery in the series.REVIEWER’S OPINION:I am impressed with this author consistently writing such good stories. I’m happily doing one right after the other in this 17 book series. Most of my ratings are 4 and 5 stars. The main difference is the emotional feeling I have at the end. A couple of books had me feeling excited and elated at the end. Another book had me feeling hurt for victims and wanting more justice and revenge which I didn’t like and gave it fewer stars. My emotional reactions are the main reasons for star differences.In each book when the story begins, I have absolutely no idea how I would investigate or solve it. It seems so impossible. So I just keep reading, waiting to be enlightened. And I always am.This book #10 can be read as a stand-alone. But it is much better if you read “The Poet” first, which is a non-Bosch book. In The Poet, Jack McEvoy (a newspaper reporter) is the main investigator. He meets and works with FBI agent Rachel Walling. At the end of “The Poet,” they discover who the bad guy is. They stop him. There is a good chance the Poet is dead. It’s a good ending. Bosch is not in that book. In “The Narrows,” Bosch is the main investigator. He discovers that the Poet is not dead and continues to kill. Bosch works with Rachel Walling to try to catch him.I’m used to Bosch doing such smart things. So I was not pleased that he hesitated and didn’t do what was necessary to restrain the bad guy when he had a gun on him. I was also disappointed that Rachel did something stupid when walking through the bad guy’s home. Bosch yelled at her not to do something, but she did it anyway and caused a problem. If I could change anything I would change those two scenes. I prefer my heroes competent and smart. Connelly is great at having Bosch outthink others which I love. So these two instances were blips on the screen – not what I prefer.I really enjoyed Bosch’s thinking and actions concerning his 5 year old daughter Maddy. This was a pleasant warm sprinkling into the story (a couple of times).MY CONFUSION WITH THE “SETTING DATE.”The author used inconsistent dates. I believe the setting for this book is 2003 since the following years were stated in the book. It is 6 years after the heart transplant in “Blood Work” (1997). It is 2 years after Bosch quit the police force which was at the end of “City of Bones” (2001). It is 1 year after “Lost Light” (2002). But, two inconsistencies were: The book says it is 8 years after “The Poet” 1994 which would put this as 2002. The Poet’s copyright was 1996 but the setting was 1994. In “Lost Light” Maddy was 3 ½ which makes her now 4 ½ since this is one year after Lost Light. But the book says Maddy is “almost 6.”STORY BRIEF:McCaleb is a retired FBI profiler. He investigates crimes as a hobby, volunteering his services to help local law enforcement agencies. He recently died. His wife discovers that someone tampered with his medication causing his death. She asks Bosch to investigate. Bosch retired from the police force and now works as a private investigator. Bosch studies the cases McCaleb was working on. One of them was the Poet. Someone had been following and taking pictures of McCaleb’s wife and children. Bosch believes the stalker could be the Poet. Bosch’s investigation takes him to a location where the FBI is digging up several dead bodies (victims of the Poet). There he meets FBI agent Rachel Walling. They investigate together.NARRATOR:The narrator Len Cariou is excellent. My only hesitation is that his Canadian accent doesn’t fit a “west coast Harry Bosch.” For example “talk” sounds like “tahk.” Other than that he does a good job with both men and women. A couple seconds of sound between some of the chapters was nice. When on the boat I heard water lapping and sea gulls. Other times it was jazz music.DATA:Unabridged audiobook length: 10 hrs and 57 mins. Narrator: Len Cariou. Swearing language: strong but not frequently used. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one, referred to not shown. Setting: probably 2003 Los Angeles, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and other areas in those states. Book Copyright: 2004. Genre: crime mystery. Ending: Not exciting, but positive.THE SERIES:I recommend reading the Harry Bosch books in order, but it would be ok to try “The Last Coyote” or “Lost Light” first just to see if you like the style. Then go back and read the rest in order. Following is my recommended reading order.3 stars. The Black Echo3 ½ stars. The Black Ice4 stars. The Concrete Blonde5 stars. The Last Coyote4 stars. Trunk Music4 stars. Angels Flight4 ½ stars. Blood Work (McCaleb series #1) Bosch is not in this.3 ½ stars. A Darkness More Than Night (McCaleb series #2) McCaleb is the primary investigator, but he interacts with Bosch.3 ½ stars. City Of Bones5 stars. Lost Light5 stars. The Poet (McEvoy series #1) Bosch is not in this. Read this any time before “The Narrows.”4 stars. The Narrows (sequel to The Poet) Bosch is the main investigator.
This is another excellent effort by Michael Connelly, with some imperfections that, for me, put it short of five stars. Terry McCaleb, the protagonist of "Blood Work", is dead, and his widow asks Harry Bosch to look into his death. Bosch ultimately agrees, and his pursuit of an explanation ends up with him on the trail of the villian of a past Connelly book, although this is new for Bosch. As always, the plot is advanced logically and thoughfully, keeping the reader turning the pages.Those who are familiar with the Michael Connelly "universe" will be pleased to find old friends from past books popping up throughout the story. It is worth reading Connelly's book in the order written for this reason. Connelly also likes to have fun with the reader, by mixing reality in with the fiction, and having fictional characters interact with real life. For instance, Clint Eastwood appears very tangentially in the plot. Also, the character Buddy does not like the way he was portrayed in Blood Work! (Connelly having a laugh at how Clint Eastwood changed his book). Also, there is a funny line in which Bosch thinks that George Pelecanos' book, "Nick's Trip" must have been written 150 years ago because it is a rare book.There is a lot of commentary on being a parent, which was revealed in the previous book, most likely flowing from Connelly's own experience. Some readers may like this, I felt that there was a bit much, but it does humanize Bosch and make him a more real character. Some minor negatives: some of the clues seem a bit weak and Bosch seems to leap to conclusions because "there are no coincidences". Also, there is a next-door neighbor in a hotel that is a loose end or that I missed. The most glaring negative for me, was the switching back and forth from the first person, for Bosch, then going to the third person for everyone else. It was distracting, and did not gain Connelly much, in my view.On the whole, though, this is another winner and will keep me moving on to "The Closers".
What do You think about The Narrows (2006)?
PROTAGONIST: Harry Bosch, PISETTING: California and Las VegasSERIES: #10 of 18RATING: 4.0WHY: "The Poet" has returned. He's taunting the authorities (and his former FBI colleagues, in particular, Rachel Walling) with GPS coordinates that lead to several bodies in a remote Nevada location. After shooting the Poet, Robert Backus, Rachel has ended up in persona non grata in a South Dakota FBI office. There's a connection to the death of Terry McCaleb, a former reporter who ran into the Poet. McCaleb's wife has asked Harry to make sure the death was not a murder. Harry and Rachel cross paths and pursue the serial killer. There are lots of twists and a quite thrilling resolution. And Harry ponders returning to the LAPD - will he go back and give up seeing his daughter frequently? Another winner in the series.
—Maddy
"The Narrows" brings back Robert Backus who was also the Poet. Harry Bosch is retired from LAPD, but was friends with Terry McCalub who was retired FBI. McCalub's wife, Graciela, wants Bosch to investigate the death of her husband. His death was ruled a normal death because he had a bad ticker and had a heart transplant. His wife does not believe this is the case, and that there was foul play. This story takes Harry to Las Vegas and to the desert where the Poet has come out of hiding and is trying to lure FBI agent and protege, Rachel Walling. There are many bodies buried in the desert. From Harry's investigation that started in Las Angeles, it connects him to the FBI and in turn to Walling. All the clues lead to the Poet killing McCalub because he was on to the killings that took place in Las Vegas. When an article is written in a Vegas paper with McCalub's mentioned in it, Bosch believes this is the connection that leads Backus to Terry~and then the murder out on the open sea in McCalub's boat. This book is action packed and leaves you guessing just like any other Michael Connelly book. Be prepared to have your mind blown away by the ending...
—Deana M
Robert Backus's reign of terror finally comes to an end. Similarly to the end of his first appearence in, The Poet, he ends up in the LA river and just floats away downstream and out of sight, but this time, they actually find a body. This book is just over 400 pages long, it wasn't until a little after page 300 when they actually started getting close to Backus, I was beginning to wonder, "are they even going to find him?". But they did! Connelly filled those last 100 pages with so much thrill
—David
